A knot formed in her chest, making it a struggle to breathe. It was even more of a struggle to gather her wits, but she fought the fear and pain, trying to think what to do, trying to figure out if there was anything she could do.
She saw then that a gnarled old man dressed in elaborately ornate robes stood before Daigon, his wrinkled face puckered speculatively as he leaned toward him, studying him curiously.
“Merciful gods!” Rhiannon gasped the prayerful oath without even realizing she’d spoken aloud.
The old man glanced at her at that, favoring her with a jagged toothed grin. “The gods had no hand it this simple spell. I confess, I’m disappointed. This warlock is known far and wide for his command of the dark forces, reputedly stronger even than his grandmother, whom I knew personally--well enough to know that her powers were not merely childish tricks to impress the ignorant. I had not expected he would be no challenge at all.”
Terror and indignation collided inside of Rhiannon that he dismissed Daigon’s powers so easily. He was lucky he had caught Daigon completely by surprise, so exhausted from his travels--and their lovemaking--that he had not had the chance to grab his staff before they were upon him.
Climaus was as cowardly as her uncle to cut a man down from behind without challenging him fairly!
“Is he aware of us? Can he hear us?” Gerard asked quickly, almost breathless with anticipation and glee as he circled the bed and came to stand beside the wizard.
The Wizard Climaus rubbed his beard thoughtfully and finally shrugged. “I can not say. Perhaps. It depends upon how deeply the spell holds him.” He paused for several moments. “You are certain this is the warlock, Daigon?”
Gerard looked at the wizard curiously. “So he claims. Why?”
Climaus stroked his beard again, plucking a little nervously at a scraggly thatch and twirling it between his fingers. Finally, he clapped his hands loudly in front of Daigon’s face, poked him with his index finger a couple of times. “That was a powerful spell I cast--truthfully I’m amazed he did not block it--but even so.” He shrugged, apparently deciding to dismiss his misgivings. “I can see no sign that he is playing us.”
“He is not dead?” Rhiannon asked fearfully, climbing to her feet with an effort.
Gerard grinned at her. “Not yet.”
Rhiannon felt a wave of agony wash through her. She beat the fear and pain back, trying desperately to formulate a plan. Daigon was alive, but helpless. If she could do nothing for him, he would die. Naturally enough, her first thought was to summon the guard. She hesitated, realizing that that was not likely to avail them. The Wizard Climaus could certainly dispose of the threat of the guards swiftly if he had not already cast some sort of spell to keep them out, and crying out would relieve Gerard of any doubts he might retain that she was very much his enemy now.
Climaus lifted his head abruptly, as if he could hear something they could not. “The army approaches the gates. Time to remove the cloaking spell and open the gate to them,” he muttered, almost to himself. Crossing the room, he opened the door to the balcony and stepped outside.
Gerard sniffed, drawing her attention back to him. “The scent of copulation fills the air. Did you enjoy it my dear? Or has it finally occurred to you that the only thing you have to bargain with is your body?”
Rhiannon reddened, but wisely kept her tongue between her teeth.
“Did he question you about who had plowed those rows before?”
Rhiannon gaped at Gerard in shock. Unable to resist, she glanced at Daigon. She could see nothing that indicated he was aware of anything any of them said, and a measure of relief filled her. “You are wasting your time to taunt him with that lie. He can not hear you and he wouldn’t care if he could. I am only his layman--one of many,” she lied.
Gerard’s brows rose. He eyed her speculatively for several moments. “You really don’t remember, do you? I believe I am insulted. A woman should always remember the man who plucked her.”
Nausea washed through Rhiannon. She felt the color leave her face in a dizzying rush.
“Ah--it’s coming back to you now. I see it in your face.” He shrugged. “Maybe it’s only that you were so young at the time that you have trouble remembering,” he said speculatively, “in your very first bloom of womanhood. I’m sorry to say it wasn’t that memorable for me either. I was sorely disappointed. You put up such a fight in the beginning I’d expected a more exciting ride, and then, at the moment of truth, you simply lay there like a dead thing.”
Bile rose in Rhiannon’s throat. He was wrong. She still didn’t remember. She only remembered that she’d been afraid of him when she was young, repulsed by his displays of affection and spent much of her time hiding from him.
It didn’t matter. She fought the nausea back, forced a smile as she watched Gerard draw his knife from his belt and test the edge with his thumb. Dimly, as if from a great distance, she heard the alarm sound. They could not know that Gerard had already breached the king’s chambers, she realized almost at once. The alarm must be the army Gerard had brought with him.
Consternation filled her. They needed Daigon.
With an effort, she dragged her mind from the turmoil outside to focus on the only problem she felt she had any chance at all of solving, slim though that might be. “I’m older now, more experienced.”
He glanced at her in surprise. His eyes narrowed upon her speculatively as he examined her from head to toe. “You’re a bit--overblown for my tastes now,” he said dryly.
Rhiannon swallowed with an effort, ignored the slight. “But--I could make it good for you. And--and think how much pleasure you could have with the warlock watching,” she added on sudden inspiration. “He is no threat to you now. Let him live so that you can take a full measure of revenge, enjoy it in leisure.”
She could see the idea appealed to him. Before she’d quite managed a sigh of relief, Climaus spoke.
“Not wise. The spell will deteriorate in time and if his mind is not as frozen as his body, he could discover a way to break the spell.”
Gerard looked torn. Rhiannon used his indecision to place herself between Daigon and Gerard’s knife. “But there is no rush, surely? We have now,” she said with an effort, lifting her hands to skate them over Gerard’s barrel chest in imitation of a caress.
His eyes narrowed. He reddened with anger. “You think me such a fool, so taken with your charms, that I would ignore the warnings of Climaus?” he growled.
Despair filled Rhiannon when she saw that her ploy had been for nothing. “Have mercy then!” she cried. “Please--don’t hurt him. I’ll do whatever you like,” she babbled in desperation. “Anything!”
“It will please me most for you to join him in death, you treacherous harlot!” Gerard howled, swinging the knife blade so quickly toward her throat that Rhiannon didn’t even have time to flinch.
The hand that shot over her shoulder and grasped his knife hand was little more than a blur. It took Rhiannon several heartbeats to realize that she felt no pain.
She’d barely assimilated that when Gerard thrust her so roughly to one side that she sprawled on the floor, skidding several feet before she came to a stop. A roar of sound filled her ears.
* * * *
Consternation filled Daigon when he heard the sounds behind him that told him Rhiannon had returned. With an effort, he closed his mind to the sounds of struggle, focusing on the counter spell he’d summoned to break the spell Climaus had trapped him with.
It had been a calculated risk to allow Climaus to bespell him at all, but one he had been willing to take when he realized that Rhiannon was safely out of their reach. Zella had said Climaus’ weakness was his arrogance, his certainty that Daigon could not match him and to use that advantage, he had thought it best to allow Climaus the first strike while he gauged the old man’s strength.
Now he had to wonder if his own arrogance would be his downfall--his arrogance and his inability to focus upon anything but Rhianno
n and the fear for her that began to gnaw at his concentration the moment he realized she was in trouble.
Briefly, relief flooded him when she moved within his view and he saw that she was unhurt, but before he could focus once more on the task, Gerard distracted him once more with his bragging and a jolt of shock went through him followed almost instantaneously by rage.
The rage was nearly his undoing. It boiled inside of him like acid as Gerard taunted Rhiannon with his misdeeds.
Emotions! Zella spat angrily as she entered his mind. You can not summon the forces if you allow them to rule you! I knew that woman would be your downfall, whether she wills it or not.
He knew she was right. Blinded by his emotions, he lost control and without control of himself he had no control of the forces. He gritted his teeth, abandoning the spell he’d sought to free himself and summoning a protection spell for Rhiannon.
Fool! Focus upon the wizard. Forget the woman!
Nay!
Then I will protect her! Free yourself! You can not help her--or any of your people if you do not dispose of Climaus!
Swear to me that you’ll protect her! He demanded.
She was silent in her anger for several moments. I will let no harm come to her, she said finally. I swear it on the body of your mother!
Relief flooded him and still it took more effort than he would ever have thought possible to ignore Rhiannon’s pleading and focus upon the task at hand. The spell gained strength, however. With agonizing slowness, he felt the hold begin to fall from him, felt his muscles begin to relax. The moment he found a fault in the spell, he reached through it and touched Climaus.
Startled, Climaus whirled to face the threat he hadn’t even suspected. For a split second, their gazes locked as Daigon’s holding spell stole over Climaus, freezing him to the spot. Daigon smiled grimly, but before he could finish the wizard, Gerard’s voice, high with fury, brought his attention instantly to Rhiannon. It was instinct that guided his hand to catch the blade Gerard wielded before it could pierce Rhiannon’s throat. A cold sweat broke from his brow when he realized how nearly Rhiannon had come to death. Fury followed the fear in quick succession as Gerard shoved Rhiannon from his path, thinking no doubt that he still had a chance to kill Daigon before he completely emerged from the spell Climaus had cast upon him.
He was wrong, dead wrong. Pursing his lips, Daigon summoned another spell and blew a puff of air in Climaus’ direction. It struck the wizard with hurricane force, tossing him about like a leaf and carrying him clear across the distant sea of Midae.
His gaze met Gerard’s horrified one before Gerard was sucked away by the tail of the winds that had carried Climaus to the sea.
* * * *
In shock, Rhiannon pushed herself upright to look just as the Wizard Climaus flew backwards off the balcony. His mouth gaped in surprise as he disappeared. Gerard screamed in pure terror as the same invisible hand snatched him from his feet and swept him through the door behind Climaus.
Numbly, with great effort, Rhiannon dragged her gaze from the horrifying sight to look at Daigon. She saw that he was frozen no longer. His gaze was unreadable as he stared at her for a long moment and then abruptly vanished.
Dazed, still too stunned to actually absorb what had happened, Rhiannon remained where she was for some time, listening to the sounds erupting through the open door grow louder, building ominously.
Finally, as much to assure herself that she had not merely imagined that Daigon had escaped the trap sprung upon him as to see what was transpiring, Rhiannon got to her feet and moved to the window. Below, she saw the keep rapidly filling with a tangle of struggling men as Gerard’s army clambered over the walls and through a v shaped crevice that had opened along one wall. Daigon now stood on the top of the wall, his dark hair and cape swirling and snapping about him as the wind rushed around him. As she watched, the sky darkened until it almost seemed a premature night had fallen. Lightning flashed, adding a fearsome noise to the already near deafening roar of shouting men, clanging swords, and screaming horses. The wind spun more tightly, following, she saw, the movement of Daigon’s staff, which he held toward the sky. Faster and faster, he twirled it, almost seeming to coil the wind around it.
When he released it at last, the funnel of air slammed into the ground beyond the gates. Men, horses, wagons, cannons, and cannon balls were plucked from the ground, spun wildly in the churning winds for many moments and then flung like flecks of sand across the field.
As horrified as Rhiannon was, she discovered she couldn’t look away. As she watched in terrified fascination, the winds pounded the army at the gates like a great fist, decimating all in its path.
Below, the men who’d charged the keep slowly became aware that their numbers were dwindling. When they looked about them and discovered their comrades had not followed them inside, they began to cry out for quarter.
Daigon, who’d turned from his contemplation of the destruction beyond the keep walls to assess the progress of his men below, merely watched for many moments. Finally, he called out to his own men. “Give them quarter!”
The mercenaries, one by one, threw down their swords. Before a full hour had passed, the sounds of clashing swords was replaced by the cries and groans of the wounded.
A sob escaped Rhiannon as relief washed over her. Covering her mouth with her hands, she turned away from the window at last, sliding down the wall until she was huddled in a tight ball on the floor.
She’d barely gotten her sobs under control when two boots appeared before her. With dread, Rhiannon lifted her head to look up at Daigon. “By the gods!” she cried out. “I didn’t know! I swear it on my mother’s soul!”
Something flickered in Daigon’s eyes but Rhiannon was afraid to hope.
“You didn’t know about the secret passage that led directly to these chambers?”
Rhiannon bit her lip, but she knew it was useless to lie. “I found it one day when I was searching for a way to escape. I never dreamed that Gerard would use it to catch you off guard. It was stupid, I know, not to tell you, but I….” She broke off, realizing that it would sound no better to tell him she had not warned him because she had thought to use it herself in case of need.
“You didn’t want me to know because you thought you might have need of it?” he asked, finishing the sentence for her.
She nodded, mopping the tears from her cheeks with her hands.
After studying her a moment, Daigon approached her, squatting down in front of her so that his face was almost level with hers. “No more lies.”
Rhiannon’s chin trembled. “I didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt.”
“I know that.”
Rhiannon sniffed. “Then--you’ll forgive me?” she asked tentatively.
He tilted his head, studying her. “Will you give me your word that you will not lie to me again, by commission or omission?”
Rhiannon nodded readily, too desperate to win his forgiveness to give any thought to the future.
“Then tell me why you tried so hard to convince Gerard to spare my life.”
She stared at him in dismay, but she had given her word. “Because--because I couldn’t bear to see your life taken.”
He cupped her chin in his hand. “Is it so hard for you to say, then?” he asked quietly.
Rhiannon’s face crumpled. “You will laugh.”
“I will not. I swear it.”
“Because I love you,” she wailed.
Daigon chuckled, but caught her arms, pulling her to him. “There, that was not so difficult, was it?”
Rhiannon struggled to free herself from his grip. “It was not hard at all for you!”
His arms tightened around her until she gave up on the possibility of escaping. “It is every bit as hard for me. I have never been in love before.”
Rhiannon’s breath caught in her throat, but she could only stare at him speechlessly.
His dark brows rose. After a moment, he loosened his grip on h
er and traced one index finger along her lower lip, smiling wryly. “I’m no good at pretty speeches, my love. Will it content you to know that I love you more with every breath I take? To know that I desperately want you for my wife?”
Rhiannon burst into tears, but flung her arms tightly around his neck. “Yes!” Doubt shook her. “Should you? You know I’m no princess and--and I was not a--You were not the first.”
“If he is fool enough to allow that to dissuade him, then you should count yourself well rid of him, my dear.”
Rhiannon jumped, jerking away from Daigon and glancing quickly around the room.
An ancient woman stood perhaps ten feet from where she knelt on the floor next to Daigon. Daigon turned to look at the woman. His eyes narrowed. “You!” he snapped angrily, surging to his feet. “You almost cost her her life! You swore to me on my mother’s soul that you would protect her!”
The old woman shrugged. “She is alive.”
Daigon ground his teeth. “Because I managed to break free in time to prevent Gerard from cutting her throat, not because you kept your word.”
The old woman’s lips tightened. “I would have cut her throat myself if I had not been reassured that she truly loves you--enough to give up her own life to save yours. Nothing less would do.”
“I warned you once before to tread warily where Rhiannon is concerned. Do not make me chose between you two, old woman.”
Stunned by the exchange, Rhiannon got to her feet slowly. “Daigon! This is--this your grandmother? Zella? But--you said she was dead.”
Zella and Daigon exchanged a look. “I crossed over,” Zella said finally. “But I had to keep a watchful eye on my boy. I promised his mother.”
Daigon reddened. “I am no boy, grandmother.”
“Pish!”
As unnerved as she was at the thought that she was staring at a ghost, Rhiannon had trouble accepting it. It was hard to doubt, though, that the woman stood in the place of mother considering the way she spoke to Daigon--and his response. She bit her lip in amusement. “You should not speak so disrespectfully to your grandmother,” she chided him.
The Warlock Page 14
